Caisson



July 20, 1937. J, SAMKOFF I 2,087,739

CAISSON Filed Oct. 25, 1935 /fvl/E/v To@ L /UL/f/S SAMKUFF ,47- ToR/VEY Patented `Iuly 20, 1937 UNITED stares wenn CAISSON Julius Samkoi, New York, N. Y., assigner to The Arthur A. Johnson Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 25, 1935, Seriai No. 46,687

7 Claims.

My invention relates to caissons and particularly to means for sealing a free air caisson to rock or other hard or impervious strata.

Caissons are frequently constructed by first driving a complete ring of sheet piling aboutl the location where the caisson is to be built. The material within the sheet piling is then excavated which necessitates the progressive installation of a complicated system of internal bracing to prevent collapse of the sheet piling due to the otherwise unbalanced external .pressure thereon.

Again, instead of rst driving a ring of Vsheet piling, caissons are constructed by providing a compressed air working chamber, and all of the material excavated, as the caisson is sunk, is necessarily removed from the working chamber through a series of air locks. Sometimes both sheet piling and a compressed air working chamber are employed.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a simple, economical and effective means whereby any portion or all of a free air caisson, as and when necessary, may be effectively sealed to rock or other hard or impervious 'strata on which the caisson is designed ultimately to rest, and whereby this may be accomplished without the necessity of using either a compressed air working chamber or initially driving a complete ring of sheet piling about the caisson location. Another object is to provide a simple but effective means whereby a tipping caisson can be easily righted. Another object is to provide a simple and effective means for cutting off buried or submerged timbers which in many instances prevent the sinking of the caisson until this is'accomplished.

With these objects in View my invention in caisson having a metallic wall illustrating how my invention may be connected thereto;

55 Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section view (ofV fsf-si) of a concrete caisson showing a slightly modied form of my invention; and

Fig. 'i' is a view similar'to Fig. 6 showing a-fur' ther modication. j

Referring to the drawing, and assuming that 5f a concrete caisson is to be'constru'cted, half sheet piles l, formed by cutting or sawing a complete pile longitudinally of the web, may be set up vertically and secured to the forms for the concrete in any suitable manner. of these piles are drilled at appropriate intervalsfto permit reinforcing rods 2 to be passed therethrough, as shown at 3 in Figs. 1 and`6, which serve to anchor the piles to the caisson. These half piles I may be positioned so that they l5 are' about equally spaced around the periphery of the caisson and so that a substantially cylindrical wall or segment ll of sheet piling may be driven in cooperative relation therewith if and when necessary. ,l

VWhere it is desirable to keep these peripherally spaced piles entirely within the outer'forms for the concrete wall, as shown in Fig. 6, recesses 5 may be provided in the concrete walls by the use of appropriate forms. Where the wall of the caisson is metal, such as shown at sin Fig. 5, f two angles 'I and 8 may be riveted to the web of the half pile as shown in Fig. 5 and the` other legs of these angles riveted to the., wall of the caisson as shown at 9 and I. It is not absolutely necessary that my half piles be rigidly attached n to the caisson wall, hence; if.desiredrecesses,v

such as shown at I I in Fig. '7, may be-constructed in the concrete wall to receive the half piles VI2..` with the angles I3 and I4 riveted thereto, and

also a plate l5 if desired. When it becomes necessary either to seal the caisson or to prevent it-I from tipping during the progress of theworkfVv the half piles I 2 may be dropped into the recesses II and driven downwardly into the material below the cutting edge of the caisson. The balance of the space in the recess not filled by the pile may be sealed by iilling with appropriate material.

In order that a ring or part of a ring of sheet piling may be driven adjacent the caisson wall and cooperate therewith effectively to seal that portion of the wall I employ sheet piles having the cross section shown at I6. These piles, instead of having two extremities adapted to cooperate in interlocking engagement Vwith other piles, have three extremities capable of such interlocking cooperation. Preferably, the-se are built up from a standard sheet pilel il and a half of a standard sheet pile I8. The Webof the The web portions 10V half pile is disposed perpendicularly to the web of the complete pile at its central point and is secured in that position by riveting the angles I9 and 20 to both.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that when leakage occurs along a section of the caisson wall it Will not be necessary in many instances to enclose the entire caisson with a ring of piling but individual sections may be enclosed as and when necessary.

In addition to sealing various sections of the caisson, my invention is of great value in righting a caisson which has tipped or listed. To accomplish this it is only necessary to drive or pull down the piling on the side toward which the caisson is tipping.

As shown in Fig. 4, I prefer first to drive short piles 2| differing somewhat in length from each other so that the tops thereof, when driven to the stratum against which the seal is to be effected, will be vertically staggered. These are followed by longer lengths of piling which may be pulled when the caisson is completely sealed.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the caisson is at all times free to move vertically in relation to the piling driven around it although relative lateral movement of the caisson and the surrounding piling is prevented.

By incorporating half piles, or complete piles for that matter. in the walls of the caisson, or providing vertically extending` recesses in the walls of the caisson, as shown in Fig. 7, into which pile sections may be dropped at any time, it will be obvious that, as and when it becomes necessary, any segment of the wall may be separately sealed to a hard substratum or, listing of the caisson in any direction may be quickly restrained and corrected.

My invention is. of course, not limited to the use of piles exterior of the caisson and, if desired, pile sections may be embedded in or secured to, or recesses adapted to receive pile sections may be provided in, the inner face of the caisson Walls, as shown at 23 in Fig. 2, and a wall of sheet piling cooperating therewith may be driven inside the caisson. as shown at 24.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiments. it is to be understood that the words which I have used are words of description rather than of limitation. changes Within the purview of the appended claims may be made Without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention in its broader aspects.

What I claim is:

l. The lcombination with a caisson having laterally spaced, vertically-extending steel sheet piles associated with a wall thereof and in substantially Water-tight engagement therewith of Hence,

a plurality of steel sheet piles in interlocking engagement with each other and with said rst mentioned piles.

2. The combination with a caisson having laterally-spaced, vertically-extending steel sheet piles secured to a wall section thereof, of a plurality of steel sheet piles driven in spaced relation to said wall and in cooperative interlocking engagement with each other and with said first mentioned piles to form a substantially Water tight seal about said wall section.

3. In a co-ncrete caisson, the combination with laterally-spaced, vertically-extending steel sheet piles provided with webs partially embedded in the concrete forming a wall of said caisson, of a common anchoring means for said piles embedded in said concrete.

4. In a concrete caisson, the combination with laterally-spaced, vertically-extending steel sheet piles having Web portions partially embedded in the concrete forming a wall of said caisson, of a reinforcing rod embedded in said concrete and passing through said Webs for anchoring said piles to said wall.

5. 'Ihe combination with a caisson of a plurality of steel sheet piles driven in mutually interlocking engagement about a. portion of said caisson in spaced relation thereto, and means connecting said piles and said caisson together at spaced intervals; said means preventing relative lateral movement of said piles and said caisson While permitting substantially free, relative, vertical movement.

6. A caisson having associated with a Wall thereof a rst, vertically-extending section of steel sheet piling provided with an accessible portion and a second section of steel sheet pil'- ing comprising a web portion provided'with means cooperable with said accessible portion of said first section of piling for connecting said sections of piling together, said second section'of sheet piling being provided with portions extending laterally from the Web portion thereof and on each side of said means.

7. A caisson having associated with a wall thereof a rst, vertically-extending section of steel sheet piling provided with an accessible portion and a second. substantially T-shaped section of steel sheet piling comprising a cross member and a member normal thereto; the extremity of said latter member being provided with means cooperab-le With the accessible portion of said first section for connecting said first and T-shaped sections together and the eX- tremities of said cross member being provided with means for interlocking with other sections of piling.

JULIUS SAMKOFF. 

